As the subprime mortgage market mess continued to make itself felt more widely, the reassessment of mortgage risks crossed over more heavily into the jumbo mortgage markets this week. The pullback in credit availability for even good-credit quality borrowers helped widen the spread between confor
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08/13/2007
The moderate (and moderating?) pace for the economy and slightly easing inflation may help move the Fed to a easing bias, but any such expectation is premature. Even if the Fed was to lower interest rates 25 or 50 basis points, the effect on long-term interest rates would be negligible in the pre
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08/09/2007
Because of investor pullback, certain mortgage products are said to be very dear right now, including alt-A and alt-doc programs, especially at higher LTV ratios. That pullback carried over into the non-conforming ("jumbo") markets, where our editorial rate surveys found rates at some lenders jum
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08/08/2007
Have you ever been driving down the freeway and remember something that needs to be added to your to-do list? I have. Many times. Trying to jot down a memo at 70-plus miles per hour while pricing loans and returning voice mail is not exactly safe.My excuse has always been, "this is just the way i
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08/03/2007
A huge rally in risk-free benchmark Treasuries failed to have a measurable impact in good-credit-quality mortgage rates, as investors continue to pull back from investments which feature even quantifiable risks. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) managed a dip of a single basis points
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07/30/2007
According to the MBA's latest Weekly Mortgage applications are now scratching a 5-Month low as weakening demand for purchase applications are evident. The NAR's existing homes report on Wednesday shows sales volume off 11.4% from year-ago levels; Inventory numbers stay at a 15-Year high.It's evid
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07/30/2007
As far as subprime goes, at least three firms announced this week that they would no longer offer the popular "2/28" mortgage, so named because it features a fixed rate for two years, followed by up to 28 years of ever-changing interest rates, typically on a six-month basis. Everything from a lac
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07/26/2007
In the news, two bond rating agencies, Moody's and Standard & Poor's bond ratings on mortgage-backed securities within the subprime sector have been significantly downgraded, meaning the premium on subprime loans sold to the secondary markets will continue to suffer. Rate increases were necessar
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07/21/2007
Subprime Meltdown. Mortgage Foreclosures. Downgraded Bonds. Have you seen the news lately? There's just no easy way to slice this one, so let's get real: Subprime is extremely volatile right now. As you probably know, most lenders raised rates this week anywhere from 50 - 200 basis points.
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07/21/2007
Bond rating agencies have come under fire for the valuations they ascribed to securities backed by those subprime loans. As downgrades are issued for those offerings, certain investors (such as pension funds) cannot hold the now-lower-rated securities; subsequently, more are likely to be dumped o
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07/16/2007